For mine, Black Caviar is the best horse I’ve seen in 35 years of following racing. Alongside Frankel, she’s the best the world has produced in that time.
That’s not to diminish what we’re seeing right now with Ka Ying Rising. He’s a genuine superstar sprinter and a joy to watch. But there are clear distinctions that set her apart. She was never beaten. When things went against her – and they often did – she found a way. And she did it while racing in what was arguably the strongest sprinting jurisdiction in the world.
We were truly blessed to witness the greatest sprinter of all time on our doorstep.
I had the absolute pleasure and privilege of being on course for many of her wins. She’s one of the very few horses that genuinely make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. And she brought people to the racetrack in numbers you rarely see – by the time she reached the end of her career, Black Caviar was as well known as any Australian sporting star.
Australian sprinters are clearly the best in the world. Time and again, we’ve sent horses of varying quality overseas and they’ve beaten up on the rest. That’s not opinion, it’s history.
So when Black Caviar made an entire golden generation of Australian sprinters look second rate, that’s when you understand what greatness actually is.
She didn’t just beat good horses. She brutalised them.
Hay List. Buffering. Horses that, in almost any other era or any other country, would have been remembered as champions in their own right. Against Black Caviar, they were reduced to footnotes.
The one tiny regret – and it’s not really a disappointment – is that we never got to see her fully tested beyond sprint trips. She went to 1400 metres once, but it was a sit-and-sprint job. Given the way she relaxed and travelled, I’ve long thought she could have won a Cox Plate. She was that good, and she should never be underestimated.
From 25 wins, picking a top five is almost impossible. But here’s my crack.
1. 2012 Diamond Jubilee Stakes
This wasn’t the cakewalk we expected. Or hoped for. And frankly, I suspect it would have been had she not been injured.
This race had everything.
The skin-tight suit she wore boarding the plane for a trip halfway around the world.
Peter Moody – the XXXX-drinking, dart-smoking bloke from the bush – turning up at Royal Ascot in top hat and tails.
The constant injury speculation.
The full “us against them” mentality from the Poms.
And then the finish. The narrowest of victories, after Luke Nolen famously dropped his hands in the final 50 metres.
She wasn’t at her best that day. We later learned she suffered two muscle tears and significant bruising during the run. That’s exactly why this win matters so much.
Black Caviar didn’t have an easy career. Injuries were always lurking. Yet she still finished 25 from 25.
Champions find a way when things go against them. No athlete was better at finding a way than Nelly.
This was an extraordinary win.
2. 2013 Lightning Stakes
For mine, this has to be right up there.
First-up, at the twilight of her career, after well-documented issues in the UK, she turned in a performance that still defies belief.
Was it the strongest field she beat? No. Not even close.
But she broke the 1000-metre track record, absolutely belting her stablemate Moment Of Change under hands-and-heels riding. The time – 55.5 seconds – could have been significantly quicker again, given Luke Nolen eased her up over the final 75 metres.
For a horse that was so far superior to her peers, sometimes the clock is the only true measure of performance. And this Lightning Stakes win stands as one of the greatest athletic performances ever produced by a horse in this country.
3. 2011 TJ Smith Stakes
Hay List would have been remembered as a champion in almost any other era.
Unfortunately for his connections, he ran head-first into the greatest sprinter the world has ever seen.
For a fleeting moment in the 2011 TJ Smith, it looked like this might be the race where Hay List finally had Black Caviar under pressure. Turning for home, he dashed a couple of lengths clear of the field.
But as sure as the sun coming up, Nelly went to work.
By the 150-metre mark, she had the race in complete control, powering past Hay List and cruising to yet another comfortable win.
And look at the field she beat. Eight Group 1 winners: Hay List, Crystal Lily, All Silent, Response, Triple Honour, Alverta, Shoot Out and Shellscrape.
That was a proper field.
4. 2009 Danehill Stakes
This one lacked the sheer wow factor of some of her later wins, but it was packed with courage.
It was just her fourth career start. There was already a huge boom around her and she went around at $1.45. Then everything went wrong.
She knuckled badly at the start. In the days that followed, it was revealed she had torn muscles in her chest during the incident.
Despite that pain, she over-raced badly against a handy group of three-year-olds – including Wanted, who would later win a Newmarket – and still found a way to win.
At that stage of her career, that effort was simply extraordinary.
5. 2012 Lightning Stakes
For mine, her top four wins almost pick themselves. Number five is much tougher.
I’ve landed on the 2012 Lightning Stakes for two reasons. First, she beat a genuinely elite field. Second, she did it just a week after toying with her rivals over 1400 metres in the Group 1 C F Orr Stakes – the only time she was ever asked to stretch beyond sprint trips.
Hay List gave her a proper race that day, with Luke Nolen even forced to go to the whip on the champion mare. And this was no ordinary rival. Hay List was a Manikato Stakes, All Aged Stakes and Newmarket winner who, when able to dodge Black Caviar, proved himself a champion in his own right. In almost any other generation, he would have collected far more Group 1s.
But, as she so often did, Black Caviar simply asserted herself late, dispatching Hay List over the concluding stages to record yet another dominant victory.
Buffering – himself a seven-time Group 1 winner – was a distant third, as he so often was when this trio locked horns. Another reminder of just how far Black Caviar sat above her peers.
It wasn’t the easiest win of her career, but dropping back from 1400 metres to 1000 metres inside a week and still doing that was quite something. It also showed Peter Moody was never afraid to throw meaningful challenges at her – and she kept answering every single one.
That’s my five. You can absolutely make a case for others. And if your list looks different to mine, that’s exactly how it should be – because that’s how great she really was.
WATCH: Matt Welsh run through his Top 5 Black Caviar wins on Betfair’s Lay Back.
